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Sunday, July 20, 2014

Kaneko Hannosuke 金子半之助: Hail the King of Tempura

This place really tested my patience because I would never imagine myself queuing for more than 1.5 hours for a tempura don. But there's a reason why Hannosuke attracts long queues daily just like the famous sushi shops in Tsukiji.

Cheap, Big, Delicious.

They served one and only one dish and that is the Edo Mae Tendon, an ultra big bowl of tempura with 1 whole Anago, tender ika (cuttlefish), 2 big prawns, 1 green pepper, 1 slice of seaweed and...Tempura Egg.

Nori, Ebi and Ika

But I found it hard to queue for this shop compared to other because the aromatic smell of sesame oil was spreading to every corner of the streets, whetting the appetites of hungry customers.I'm not kidding when I'm talking about the portions as even an average normal guy commented that he was stuffed after emptying the bowl.

How often do one get a Tempura Egg in a Tempura Don?

Each ingredient is deep fried with a practiced hand and the yummiest parts are the delicate morsels of flavourful golden batter.

Unlike the typical pale yellowish tempura, they have been drizzled with the tare, which seeps to the rice. The tempura alone justified the extreme long wait, though I wished there were more tare to go with the rice.

The Anago was surely huge and meaty than the past Anago I've had. That said, I though the tempura ika (cuttlefish) was the most stunning and masterfully prepared piece out of all the seafood. It was so fresh and appetizing that even a non-cuttlefish eater like me could finish it in less than 10 seconds.

For ¥950, it was worth the deal, the time and the calories. According to the staff, the first customer tends to start queuing 1-1.5 hour before the opening hour. But good thing is that it operates non-stop till late 10pm. And for that, we've got to give the diligent aged chefs a good pat on the shoulders for the long hours of hard work.*Available for takeaway as obento at same price but no tempura egg due to hygiene reasons